Honors College Application Information

How To Login:If you have NOT submitted your deposit to the University yet, select "goBaylor ID" when you reach the login page, and use the same login information created when you submitted your general application to the University.

If you HAVE submitted your deposit to the University, select "Bear ID" when you reach the login page, and use your Bear ID (first name_last name).

Once you begin the application(s), it may take a minute or two for various pages to fully load. Please be patient during this process, and click "Submit" only once.

The Honors College is comprised of two programs -- the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core and the Honors Program -- and two majors -- Great Texts and University Scholars. Entrance into the Honors College is by way of a program. See how these programs and majors compare and contrast.

With the new streamlined application, applicants only need to submit one application, which he/she may direct to the Honors College program(s) of his/her choice. Each program in the Honors College requires an application except for the Great Texts Program, which is offered as a major/minor. Learn how to select Great Texts as your major/minor below under the "Great Texts Preview" heading.

Helpful Tips:

Once you begin the application, it must be completed in one sitting. If you close the application prior to clicking "Submit," the application will be lost and you must begin again. To ensure that you are prepared to complete the application in one sitting, review the essay questions below. You may compose your answers ahead of time and simply copy/paste the text into the application.

Applying to More Than One Honors College Program

After submitting the application if, at a later time, you decide you would like to apply to another program, simply login again from this page to pull up your application file. From that point, you will see a list of Honors College programs to which you have not yet directed your application, and you may direct your previous application to the additional program(s) of your choice.

Honors College Application Preview

NOTE: In the event the application is not submitted successfully, you will need to resubmit the application. So, be sure to compowe your responses to the essay questions ahead of time, save, and copy/paste them into the application.

If you could design your own college curriculum, what would it look like? For example, what areas of study would be included and why? How would the classes be formatted? (250 word limit)

Describe a cultural experience you have had and explain how it impacted you. This could be through travel, class, relationships, etc. (250 word limit)

Describe any important honors or awards you earned in high school; focus especially on any that relate to your interest in research and/or in study connecting different academic subjects. (150 word limit)

In a well-considered essay, examine one of the claims made below by Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes, evaluating their compatibility with your own views regarding the proper goals and aims of a college education. Feel free to justify your answer with experiences from your own life and/or examples from pertinent texts, historical figures, and contemporary events. (500 word limit)

"[Liberal education] means the development, by careful training, of the capacity to appreciate what has been done and thought, the ability to make worthwhile appraisals of achievements, doctrines, theories, proposals. It is liberal because it emancipates; it signifies freedom from the tyranny of ignorance, and from what is worse, the domination of folly. Learning is not its aim so much as intelligence served by learning."

BIC Application Deadline: Applicants are admitted on a rolling basis throughout the year, and acceptance e-mails are sent on a weekly basis following phone interviews. Interested students are encouraged to apply as early as possible for advising and housing purposes. (NOTE: You may only enter the BIC as an incoming freshman.)

Honors Program Application Deadline: Applicants are admitted on a rolling basis throughout the year, and acceptance letters will be sent on a monthly basis. Interested students are encouraged to apply as early as possible for advising and housing purposes.

Great Texts Application Deadline:

Great Texts is offered as a major/minor and does not have an application deadline.

Great Texts Majors:

To declare Great Texts as a major, you must:

Select "Great Texts" as your major on your Baylor University application.

If you already have submitted your Baylor application and selected "Undecided" or another major, but would like to switch to Great Texts, follow the instructions for your current major on the University's "Changing Your Major/Minor/Program" page. You also will need to submit the DATA FORM under the College of Arts and Sciences. (NOTE: Submitting this form does not immediately change the degree/major/minor but sends a request for changes. The requested changes are then processed by staff in the Degree Certification Office.)

University Scholars Application Deadline: Applicants are admitted on a rolling basis throughout the year, and acceptance letters will be sent on a monthly basis. Interested students are encouraged to apply as early as possible for advising and housing purposes.

TIP: Applying to the Honors Program will cause you to be a stronger candidate for the University Scholars Program. In addition to your responses to the essay questions, the following are essential criteria for admission into the University Scholars Program:

SAT/ACT scores

Class rank and GPA

The number and type of Advanced Placement or college-level courses previously taken

One letter of recommendation from a current or former teacher who can comment upon your abilities as a student. Letters previously submitted to Baylor University will count toward the required recommendation letter. Teachers should email or mail recommendation letters, on school letterhead, to the contact information below. It is the responsibility of the applicant to contact their teachers. NOTE: A recommendation letter is not required for National Merit Finalists.